He had intervened to save Hu Liena for several reasons.
One was that Tian Chen knew Li Yuan was close by, so regardless of what he thought inside, he at least had to put on the appearance of a hot-blooded youth to disguise himself.
After all, he still had his concerns and did not want to completely offend Bibi Dong over this matter.
Although the Worship Hall and the Pope's Palace were currently at odds, when all was said and done, Qian Daoliu, his grandchild, and Bibi Dong were family.
He and his grandfather, on the other hand, were merely hired hands for the Qian Family.
Besides, if Li Yuan intervened, it would mean the end of this trial. Even if he killed this Ice and Fire Demon Tiger, it would not count toward his results.
Lastly, the possibility that he wanted to leave a good impression on Hu Liena could not be ruled out either.
Given Hu Liena's status as the Pope's direct disciple, she would also play a very important role in carrying out his future plans.
But that did not mean Tian Chen intended to become a simp like Yan.
Having lived two lives, he was quite skilled at grasping women's thoughts. He certainly understood the principle that a simp who kept licking would end up with nothing.
Besides, he greatly disliked being the one to abase himself in a relationship.
Ignoring Hu Liena's astonished gaze, Tian Chen took advantage of the three seconds of Invincible Golden Body. With a powerful sweep of his enormous crocodile tail, he rapidly closed in on the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger before it could recover its strength.
The Ice and Fire Demon Tiger had just expended almost all its Soul Power on that all-out strike. How could it still have the strength to withstand Tian Chen's counterattack that followed hot on its heels?
But a Soul Beast was still a Soul Beast. In most cases, a Soul Beast's combat strength far surpassed that of a Soul Master at the same level, let alone a high-grade Soul Beast like the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger, which could rival a Man Faced Demon Spider.
As Tian Chen approached, the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger fiercely beat the ice-blue and scarlet wings on its back. Its five-meter-long body rapidly retreated at an unbelievable speed, while its hideous maw kept forming ice balls and fireballs the size of human heads and firing them at Tian Chen.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The ice balls and fireballs slammed into Tian Chen's muscular body under Martial Soul Possession. Golden light immediately flared across him, rippling in waves, but the originally dazzling golden glow around his body dimmed considerably.
The three seconds are almost up. Looks like I can't conserve Soul Power anymore.
Sensing the Soul Power within his body, Tian Chen's thoughts raced. He looked up at Zhang Ping, who was rushing over, and Li Kai, who had likewise activated his first Soul Skill, Boar Charge.
As he channeled all his Soul Power into his right leg, he shouted.
"Zhang Ping, Li Kai, hit this Ice and Fire Demon Tiger with your strongest attacks! I'll trap it!"
"Yes!"
Li Kai and Zhang Ping exchanged a glance, suspecting nothing.
After working together for so many days, the three had developed a measure of coordination. More importantly, they had absolute trust in Tian Chen.
They had experienced this firsthand over the past seven days.
Seeing the glow of Soul Power flashing around the two, Tian Chen hesitated no longer. He stamped down hard with his right leg, densely covered in golden scales from Martial Soul Possession.
Strange Soul Power fluctuations gathered around Tian Chen's right leg, more intense than on any previous occasion.
"Earth Array Cage!"
As before, sharp earth spikes glittering in the sunlight instantly thrust up beneath the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger, piercing its soft belly.
The difference was that this time, there were several times as many earth spikes as before, and the particularly thick spikes around the outer edge trapped the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger like a cage.
This was a variant Soul Skill of Earth Array Thrust that Tian Chen had only recently developed.
The sound of bones shattering mingled with the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger's howls, making the gazes of everyone watching from nearby freeze.
Hu Liena, who was even closer to Tian Chen and the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger, raised her small hands to cover her mouth, staring at the expressionless Tian Chen in disbelief. He had truly come to recognize the gap between the three of them and Tian Chen.
After this, she would probably never entertain the thought of challenging Tian Chen again.
"B-Brother Li, Tian Chen really lives up to being the Second Worship's grandson. What he just used was a Soul Bone Skill, wasn't it? And its quality didn't seem low, either. It must be at least a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone."
The Soul King teacher standing beside Li Yuan in the treetops watched Tian Chen in the battle area, his heart burning as he licked his lips.
Hearing this, Li Yuan shot him a cold glance and warned him.
"For the sake of your own life, don't entertain thoughts you shouldn't."
Sensing the chill in Li Yuan's voice, even with his Soul King cultivation, he broke out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly gave Li Yuan an awkward smile.
"Brother Li, I was only saying..."
Seeing Li Yuan's stern expression, he wisely shut his mouth and anxiously turned his attention back to Tian Chen and the other two in the battle area.
By now, the battle had already been decided. With its body pierced, grievously wounded and unable to move, the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger took Li Kai and Zhang Ping's charged strikes head-on and completely lost its ability to act.
Tian Chen walked up to the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger and clamped his right claw tightly around its enormous head. Then he slowly increased the pressure, tormenting it. Only when it stared at him with hatred did Tian Chen crush its head outright.
He certainly would not sympathize with Soul Beasts or make saving them his duty.
In ancient times, humanity's circumstances had been far more miserable. The profession of Soul Master had not yet emerged, and humans had no means of resisting powerful Soul Beasts. They were merely food kept penned up by Soul Beasts.
It was precisely through the explorations of those predecessors that the profession of Soul Master had emerged and flourished, giving humanity the strength to contend with Soul Beasts.
As descendants who have benefited from our predecessors, what right do we have to forgive the crimes of Soul Beasts on behalf of those predecessors who died in their jaws? And even absurdly pity them?
It was merely the weak becoming the prey of the strong.
A cold sneer appeared on Tian Chen's face. Only when two bright Yellow Soul Rings emerged from the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger's corpse did he withdraw his blood-covered right claw.
He had his own reasons for tormenting the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger.
Having read the original novel, he knew that Soul Beasts were most likely to produce Soul Bones under two circumstances.
One was willingly becoming a Soul Master's Soul Ring. This certainly was not limited to Sacrifice, because Sacrifice was an ability exclusive to Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, along with unusual beings like the Emperor Auspicious Beast.
For ordinary Soul Beasts, willingly becoming a Soul Master's Soul Ring meant willingly allowing a Soul Master to kill them. However, the chances of this were minuscule. After all, Soul Beasts were not fools. Why would they willingly let you kill them?
The second was a Soul Beast dying in extreme hatred. This would not only allow a Soul Master to fuse better with the Soul Ring, but also greatly increase the chances of producing a Soul Bone. However, it also carried considerable risk: the difficulty of absorbing the Soul Ring would increase dramatically, and there was even a risk that a Soul Master lacking firm resolve would explode and die.
Tian Chen was using the second method, continually tormenting the Ice and Fire Demon Tiger so that it would die in extreme pain and hate him.
The comments on Qidian have blown up. I can see all your comments in the Author Assistant app, but there's nothing in the book review section.